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Seeing and not Observing
Posted on January 10, 2011

I have been preparing to lead a workshop on Bible study at a conference center in Colorado for the past several weeks. Last weekend as I was finishing up the preparation, I took a break to review some verses I have been trying to memorize (I have found that that discipline has become harder for me). Isaiah 42:16 was one of the verses. I took some time to read around the passage, which is rich, and came upon verse 20. I was stunned.

The major focus of the workshop is to increase the observational skills of those who come. It is my conviction that most of us move too quickly through our time in the Word both devotionally and in study moving to application or interpretation before we have really grappled with what the text is saying. John Eldredge say that the spirit of the age is busyness. That is we are afflicted with a kind of cultural ADD. We do not sit still well. Quiet, solitude, and reflection means that we hit all of the red lights between appointments.

In the context of Isaiah 42, God is in the process of responding to Israelâ€™s disobedience in significant ways, yet they do not recognize His hand. They are too caught up in their own stuff. Seeing is not the same as observing. Being aware of sound is not hearing. It takes effort. I need to pray that I will observe and hear â€“ I do not want to miss what God has said in His Word or is doing around me.

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